BHOYS held to a dull goalless draw by Czech side Dukla Prague in their final pre-season friendly ahead of their Champions League qualifer next week.

Celtic's Emilio Izaguirre is unsuccessful with a crack on goal in the drab clash. (Photo: SNS Group)

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RONNY DEILA asked the Champions League question and he knew there is only one answer.

“Are we ready? We have to be ready.”

You said it Ronny. The new gaffer is well aware Celtic simply must be ready for Reykjavik.

They can’t be under-cooked but the good thing for Deila is that his side look to be up and running despite barely reaching the middle of July.

Last night’s goalless snore with Dukla Prague rounded off the 13-day Austrian expedition.

The hard work is done. Now it’s down to business. Thankfully.

Celtic’s last run-out against the Czechs in Austria was a worthwhile exercise but it won’t last long in the memory. Actually, scrub that. It’ll linger long in a few nightmares as this was a brutal example of why pre-season bounce games should be played behind closed doors.

It was job done though for Deila’s men and the boss will be hoping the violent thunderstorm that erupted at the final whistle isn’t a bad omen.

The skies emptied as fans dived for cover, but the 90 previous minutes were far less concerning. Or interesting.

Dukla provided a stern enough test as they sat deep and hit on the counter. They gave Celtic a game, which is the best you can hope for at this stage of pre-season.

Deila was pleased enough. He’s had time to look under the bonnet at Celtic and he has started his fine tuning.

He said: “It was a good game against a good opponent. It was one step up from Rapid Vienna last Sunday. Of course, there is still a long way to go but we finished strongly and that was a positive.

“I’m looking forward to the game against Reykjavik. We’ve prepared as well as we could do. We have not had that many days together but this training camp was very important.

“I got to know the players and they got to know me. We will have a good team on Tuesday.”

These two sides have history of course, although this was a million miles from the European Cup semi-final when Jock Stein’s side triumphed on the way to lifting the Big Cup in Lisbon.

A sleepy hamlet in Austria didn’t quite have the same appeal but Deila is hoping this was the last staging post on another European adventure.

After the body blow of losing Scott Brown, there was good news with the reappearance of World Cup men Emilio Izaguirre and Fraser Forster. The pair missed a chunk of pre-season but looked like they’d never been away.

It didn’t take Forster long to show his gaffer why he is one of the most wanted men in Europe.

The Geordie giant was left exposed early on when Michal Krmencik raced through but he raced from his goal to throw a huge paw up and claw the ball to safety. The big fella never broke sweat and was a calming influence all night.

Izaguirre was his usual self, darting up and down the line and enjoying defending high up the pitch.

Deila likes his side to pass the ball from the back, through the midfield and getting pace down the flanks. It means defenders – like Virgil van Dijk – will need to step out and carry the ball.

When it comes off it looks good and one or two slick moves in the first half won over the locals.

Kris Commons was coming deep and linking up well with both Stefan Johansen and wideman Derk Boerrigter.

The problems only come if someone loses the ball. Which happened from time to time.

Giving the ball away in midfield just won’t be an option at Champions League level.

It’s hard enough to keep top sides out without gifting them the ball when your centre-half is on the rampage. Celts were guilty a couple of times in the first half against Dukla and were lucky not to pay the price.

They created a couple of chances of their own as well. Anthony Stokes was lively and had a couple of pops at goal, including a fierce drive that had the Dukla keeper in a flap.

Elsewhere there was a midfield role for Charlie Mulgrew, alongside Beram Kayal. It looks like these two are the preferred partnership with skipper Brown laid up.

Kayal looked like he fancied the challenge of winning over the new gaffer. The last couple of injury ravaged campaigns have been mediocre at best for the schemer but if he can get back to anywhere near the level he was at in his first season then he could save his gaffer a lot of hassle – and a few quid.

It was a steady workout but preciously little to write home about as a spectacle.

There were a few long-distance digs from Commons and Stokes and a first sighting of Tony Watt this pre-season.

The youngster’s had to wait for his chance but he almost took one immediately after he produced a cute flick having got on the end of a wicked Izaguirre cross.

Apart from that it was a case of move on, there’s nothing to see here. The real stuff starts now. Thank God.